Parker and I just started smacking each other, forcefully.
"I can't believe you'd spread a lie about me that you know isn't true." I scream, holding her hair back.
"I can't believe you'd steal Tommy from me, then loose him, then get a cuter producer! What did you sleep with Darius? Oh maybe that's why everyone thinks you're pregnant!" I gasp.
"I have to urge to throw pudding on them." I hear Mark say. "Dude?"
Out of the corner of my eye, I watch Pete creep up to Mark slowly, arms crossed. "You really shouldn't have hurt her. She's a wonderful person and you screwed her over." Pete shakes his head. "You are an idiot."
"Excuse me?" Mark steps forward a little bit.
"You heard me. You're low dude, low."
"At least they are fighting over me." Mark scoffs. Pete clenches his fists tightly, and in one swift move, he hits Mark square in the forehead, knocking him over.
With that, Pete jumps on top of him and starts to beat the crap out of him.
I laugh a little, and then fall on my butt, rubbing where Parker just punched me.
I look up at her in disbelief. "Loser." She says. I take my foot and swing it across her calves, causing her to fall sideways.
"Jude, Parker, Mark and… Guy. What is going on here?" Darius storms out. Everyone stops and gets quiet. "Jude and Parker?" Darius shakes his head. "You are both suspended for a month. That goes for you too Mark. And… Guy, you aren't aloud here for a month. I am very, very disappointed guys." With that he turns and walks back into G.
Parker glares at me as she stands up. "Nice going freak." She says. "Come on Mark." She orders.
I look over at Mark, who is still lying on the ground, with Pete still on top of him. He pushes Pete off of him, then glances at me quickly, and says, "You go on without me." Parker lets out a huff and storms off.
Pete walks over to me and pulls me up. "You okay?" He asks. I nod, rubbing the bump under my eye.
"She has a lot of strength for suck a small girl." I laugh slightly. Pete puts his arm around me and smiles.
I look over at Mark, who is struggling to get up. "Jude, can we talk, please?" I shake my head.
"I don't know if I can handle that right now, maybe in a month or something." His head drops but he nods.
"Okay… But I will make it up to you. I am seriously sorry." I can tell in his eyes that he is sincere, but I still don't want to have to worry about him every doing this again. I nod to him once, and then turn around to walk to my car, with Pete.
"Thanks for sticking up for me back there." I smile.
"It was nothing. He shouldn't have hurt you, he got what he deserves. But man you and that girl were going at it… It was kind of hot." I laugh and push him a little.
"You're such a weirdo." He smiles too.
"You know, Jude, I would love to be you're weirdo." I come to a complete halt and look at him. He intertwines his fingers with mine.
I blush a little bit, then say, "To be honest, I would love for you to be my weirdo." He leans in and kisses me lightly. Ugh, I don't want this moment to ever end.
He pulls away and takes a breath. "Do you want to come over to my house?" I ask, not intentionally implying anything. "I mean, to hang out… I am alone most of the time so…" I add quickly.
He nods. "That'd be cool. I just need to call Patrick first." He flips his cell phone out and dials a number. "Hey Pat." He says. "No, I'm hanging out with Jude." He pause and I hear a slight mumbling from the other end of the line. "Dude, shut up. Where are you?" He asks. "Well can you call Gerald? The Warp Tour doesn't start for awhile right?" I walk up to my car and unlock it, but before I can get in Pete pulls me closer to him. "Just call him, okay? I got to go, bye." He closes the phone and focus's attention on me.
He leans in and starts to kiss my neck, which tickles, so I start to giggle. After a few minutes Pete lifts his head and kisses me on the lips. "Do you want to go now?" He asks.
I sigh. "I suppose." I say not really wanting to go. He laughs, and then walks around the car to get in on the passengers side.
"You know your car is really ugly, right?" Pete says with a laugh, as I sit in the car.
"What?" I look at him as if I am mortified.
"I mean… Um…" He breaks eye contact and turns bright red.
I laugh. "I am so kidding. I hate this stupid thing. It was a hand-me-down from my mom." I smile pathetically.
"So… Did you actually like Mark?" Pete asks, breaking the silence. I turn and look at him.
"I don't really know. Sometimes I would catch myself thinking I liked him, but then someone else came along." I shrug, sticking the key in the ignition. I really like the feeling of being with Pete. Maybe Landon won't be around as much if Pete is at my place.
"So what are you going to do for the next month?" He asks bluntly.
"I don't know. Catch up on homework. Maybe go visit my sister." I stop myself before going on, regretting what I had just said.
"You have a sister?" He asks. I sigh and nod. "Very cool. I have two sisters and a brother: Christina, Spencer, and Samantha. I am older then Sam, but Chris and Spence, are older then me." He smiles.
I laugh. "That is awesome. Sadie is my sister and she's older then me." I am so relieved that he didn't stay on the subject of Sadie.
We come to a stop light and I notice something out of the corner of my eye. "Do you want to go to the mall?" I perk up a little bit.
He shrugs. "Sure."
I turn into the left lane, accidentally cutting off an old woman, who blows her horn as loud as possible, while flicking me off. Pete starts to laugh.
"That old woman is p.o.ed!" He says.
"I have never met and old lady whose flicked me off before." I smile and pull into the small parking lot. "So what do you think?" I ask looking at the mall.
"It's… Quaint." He smiles sheepishly.
We both open our door and get out. I stretch out as I stand up and Pete walks over and puts his hands on my waist. You know Tommy never use to put his hands on me. I like how touchy Pete it… Hm… Yes I do realize how wrong that sounds, but hard to explain.
"Let's go." He moves one of his hands to mine and puts the other one in his pocket. We walk side by side, until I notice someone watching us from a nearby car. I pick up pace a little bit. "What's wrong?" Pete asks, catching up to me.
"We just… We should get into the mall. It's kind of cold out here." I flash a fake smile then start to jog for the entrance.
When we finally reach the door I start to open the door, but Pete pulled me back before I could walk in. "What is going on?" He asks.
I can tell by the way he was gripping my arm that he wasn't going to let go until I tell him the little secret. "Christmas." I blurt out.
"Christmas." He repeats.
I nod a little. "Ye-ah, um. It's almost Christmas and… I have to get… Presents! You know before everything is sold out." My cheeks start to burn bright red as I nod and smile.
"Oh…Okay…" He says then lets go of my arms. We intertwine our fingers again and walk into the small mall.
After only going a few feet, I see them… The Emmits. Ugh! I have been trying to avoid for almost a year. As they start to head towards Pete and I, I completely halt and step a little behind Pete.
"What now?" Pete asks.
"Shh." I hiss.
"Jude what is it?" He asks turning to face me.
"It's the Emmits. They are a family friend… Sort of. They are the most stuck up people in the entire world, plus every time I see them they always try to set me up with their son. So…" I look at my hands and move the diamond ring my mom had given me for Christmas last year and move it to my wedding finger. "You have to act for me a little bit." I smile a little. "I need you to play the part of my fiancé." He laughs.
"I suppose I could play that part, any guy would be lucky enough." He smiles his absolutely wonderful smiles, and tries to lean in and kiss me, but Mrs. Emmit spots me before he even gets the chance.
"By the way if I start talking in a British accent, do not be alarmed, just go with the flow." I give him a small peck on the check then turn the face my doom. Okay maybe that is being a little over dramatic, but still.
Mr. and Mrs. Emmit pick up pace once they realize it was really me that they saw. "Judith! Judith!" Mrs. Emmit calls.
"Judith?" Pete mumbles.
I shrug. "That's not even my name. It's just Jude." I say.
"Oh hello Mr. and Mrs. Emmit!" I say in an over excited British accent. She walks up quickly and gives me a tight squeeze, which I think was suppose to be a hug.
"How have you been?" She asks.
"I have been wonderful. I am attending a college in South Carolina; Coastal Carolina. It's quite divine." Mr. and Mrs. Emmit nod with satisfaction.
Mr. Emmit looks at Pete. "Who is this young man?" He asks.
"This is my fiancé-"
"Lord Vladimir Mycroft." He cuts me off in a surprisingly good accent. I look at him though, in disbelief of how he even made up such a name.
"Oh… What a name." Mr. Emmit smiles then give Mrs. Emmit "the look".
"Fiancé?" Mrs. Emmit asks. "Let me see the ring." She grabs my ring finger and mumbles something to herself. "Hmm. It's nice, but I think my Jon could give you a bigger one." Pete chokes back a laugh, which comes out as somewhat of a snort.
"Excuse me? Do you have something you want to say Lord Vladimir?" Mr. Emmit asks looking almost as disgusted as Mrs. Emmit.
"Well yes I do. Jude-ith and I have to go Christmas shopping before the stores are sold out. So if you don't mind we need to be off." He smiles and grabs my hand.
"Alright then. Tell you mother I'll call sometime." Mrs. Emmit smiles, giving me another squeeze.
"Cheerio! Ta, ta." Pete smiles at them weirdly, and then we both walk by them. After a few feet I let out a laugh. "Pssh. She thought that Jon could give you a bigger ring. Ha." He laughs once they are out of earshot.
"Aw is someone jealous?" I say.
"No, no, no, no, no, no." He mumbles in a high pitched voice.
I laugh then change subject. "Lord Vladimir Mycroft? Classic. How did you even come up with such a name?" I ask.
He shrugs. "I listened in the History class?" I laugh again. "So do you want to do your Christmas shopping now?" I stop.
"Well I guess I can do that a different day by myself." I smile. "Do you just want to go back to my house?" He nods and we turn around.
While walking past Charlotte Ross, I notice a familiar face. The same face that I saw on the way into the mall… "Let's walk a little faster Pete." I pick up a significant amount of pace this time.
"Why?" He asks softly.
I stop as we get back to the entrance. "I've noticed someone watching us… I first saw it when we were coming into the mall, now I think I saw the same person in Charlotte Ross." His eyes get wide.
"Seriously?" I nod. "Darius said you had a stalker but I didn't think he was telling the truth." Again I nod.
"It's the truth." I mumble.
"Oh… Um… Let's just leave now." He says walking past me.
I follow behind him, realizing I could have just screwed everything up with him.
20 minutes later
"We're here." I say, finally breaking the everlasting silence that I had to just witness. He nods and opens his door.
I get out of my door slowly and walk towards my house, Pete walking slowly behind me. "What's that?" Pete points to a letter that is posted on the door.
I shrug. "It's addressed to me." I say pulling it off the door. I open it swiftly.
Dear Ms. Harrison,
You have been chosen to perform a song with five other chosen women. The name of the song is "Cell Block Tango" from the motion picture "Chicago". If you choose to take this opportunity, you will play the part of Liz (main girl). The performance will be shown on December of 20th on Broadway in New York City. You will need to arrive at the Plaza Hotel on December of the 10th. You are permitted to bring one guest with you. We hope to see you there.
RSVP to Julia Convender at 571-928-8372.
Sincerely,
Matthew Charleston
"Oh my gosh. I have two days to get ready to go to New York." Pete tilts his head. I hand him the letter and his mouth drops.
"This is… Amazing! I am so happy for you. You are going to rock on!" He smiles and gives me a hug. "Have you seen that movie?" I shake my head. "I guess we will have to watch that tonight then." He leans in and kisses me.
I open the door to the house and set my keys on the side table. Wow this is fantastic. I am going to be singing on Broadway. Oh man… Who am I going to bring? I mean my first choice will probably be Pete, but then there is Tommy, and Darius might want Mark to come. "This is intense." I mumble to myself.
Pete walks over to me and puts his hands on my waist. "You are going to be fabulous." He smiles. I put my hands on his lower back. "You are fabulous." I laugh a little and he leans in and kisses me.
Suddenly the front door swings open with intense force. "What the-" Pete turns around.
"Jude I can't wait forever. I love you!"